We're a family of readers.Meeting the most interesting people.Reading Romance, Contemp, Chick Lit & Erotica. Some can sizzle your blood. My hubby will be writing on Hist., Sports, & Mystery. My daughter on YA.What type of genres do you enjoy?Some good author interviews coming. We're on Twitter:@1RadReader59 Instagram:@1radreader and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/booksreviewedauthorstoo/. Enjoy reading, we will.

Get the most from your cast-iron cookware with 40 fabulous recipes especially designed for cast iron, from a full English breakfast to chilaquiles, pan pizza, cheesy beer fondue, Korean fried chicken, vegetarian chili, mango curry, party nuts, two kinds of cornbread, baked apples, gingerbread -- and the perfect grilled cheese sandwich! You'll also learn how to buy the cast-iron pots and pans that are right for you and how to care for them successfully.HUBBY'S REVIEW:An excellent book that first deals with how to clean and restore cast iron, and to season them. The author also goes over the different sizes and what you can use them for, example Dutch oven is real good for chili and any type of clobber, my opinion. I have used cast iron most of my life having growing up with them, and my wife and I have three different sizes of skillets and two different flat pans. These you can roast peppers etc... Heat tortillas, and especially good for grilled cheese sandwiches. She gives you many different recipes and I did like the one to make s’mores. Other ones we already do but still this is a very good book and the recipes are easy to follow and I thought the pictures were very good. The beginning of the book in the care of the cast iron is really useful and was good information. Overall an outstanding cook book. I got this book from netgalley. I gave it 5 stars. Follow us at www.1rad-readerreviews.com

Contemporary Erotic Romance - Suitable for mature readers; 18+ years - Full-length, stand-alone novel with HEA. Famous Dutch architect, Sven van der Meer, has just completed the greatest achievement of his professional life—the design and construction of The Spire, Chicago’s tallest, most controversial skyscraper. But a shameful secret threatens to destroy his prestigious career—he’s losing his eyesight. Now, he’s run out of time and the only woman qualified to help maintain his charade of invincibility is also the one woman who despises him and The Spire. And he’s fairly certain she’s hiding something as well. Will the fiery, but enchanting Miss Sanchez be the right woman to play the role of his pretend girlfriend? Or will the temptation of getting too close, too fast jeopardize their business arrangement and the future of his entire career?

When twenty-eight-year-old, woefully unemployed, Inez Sanchez, arrives to her interview with hotter-than-hell billionaire architect, Sven van der Meer—mastermind behind The Spire—she quickly realizes his job proposition isn’t what she was anticipating. He’s hiding a life-changing secret, one that could ruin his career as the most influential architect in the world, and he’s willing to pay her five thousand dollars a day—just to help him keep it. Will she accept his offer to become his “pretend girlfriend” for the next four days in order to ensure the success of the most important week of his life? Or will her sassy flair for independence and smartass sarcasm keep her from submitting to his stern authoritative commands, no matter how sexy his European accent might be? And what will happen when he discovers she’s hiding a secret, too—one that could threaten the stability of their arrangement and prevent her from getting too close to the one man in the world who might be capable of gaining her trust…HUBBY'S REVIEW:

Sven Van Der Meer is wanting to hire someone who will be his date for a week at each function he has that week. He does not tell these women when they come for the interview what the job entails just that he needs an assistant. Inez Sanchez is the last person to show up for the interview needing money, but you do not know the reason why at first. She ends up getting the job and with it $ 5,000 dollars a day. She takes her responsibilities towards him serious and he is totally taken in by her. But at the end of the night she leaves. She also leaves the next night, but they each find out a little more about each other and she for one does not like his brother, business partner, or former girlfriend who is now marrying his brother. He finds out her secret about being a single mother, and helping her grandmother who is going blind. While she is dealing with the father of her baby, who has been gone for a year and has made it known to her that he had been sleeping with all of his dance partners. She wants nothing to do with him and it is like talking to a brick wall even after she finds him and her best friend together in bed. Now later that day Sven finds out where she lives and meets the grandmother and Luna the daughter. He accepts them into his life and she opens herself up to him later that night. The next night at the Gala for which she was really hired for is when everything falls apart starting with Sven’s ex and then it goes downhill from there. They do not see each other for over two months. When he finally shows up. What happens get the book and find out. I like the characters especially Inez and her grandmother, but each one has a place in the story. This is a very good book. I got this book from netgalley. I gave it 5 stars. Follow us at www.1rad-readerreviews.com

When it comes to training K-9 patrol dogs, Yardley Summers always trusts her instincts. But when it comes to dating men, she keeps her heart on a very short leash. Mostly, she’s too busy with her four-legged trainees at Harmonie Kennels to commit to a relationship. Only two men have managed to distract her: a handsome Doctors Without Borders physician who’s suddenly gone missing—and the red-hot dog trainer from her past who’s suddenly back in her life…

Now a K-9 rescue team leader, Kye McGarren has never forgotten the days he trained at Yardley’s camp—or the nights he spent in her arms. When he hears that Yardley is on a mission to find the missing doctor, Kye is determined to keep her out of danger. With his K-9 partner by his side, he joins Yardley on a death-defying mission—one that reignites their mutual passion. Will Kye be able to rescue his romantic rival…without losing the woman he loves?HUBBY'S REVIEW:This is book # 4 in the series and this one is about Yardley who owns and operates the Harmony Kennels. She is so caught up with training or taking care of the dogs, or people that have come through her place you begin to think that she never had a life before. Other than her brother from a previous book. Now a man from her past is back, Kye McGarren who has never forgotten about her and in the story you find out why he had to leave. Yardley has not forgotten about him either and is surprised when he shows up unannounced and does not know what to do because she actually needs his help. She is fighting herself with feelings towards Kye, but she is also wondering why a doctor who she started seeing and went on a trip with doctor without borders, she has not heard from him in months and is now doubting herself. Kye though is doing everything he can to make her feel like they were when they were young and she is starting to forget at times about the doctor. When men start to show up at her kennels and are trying to harm her Kye steps in and now they must find out why these men are after her. This is a good suspense, and romantic book, with a nice twist at the end. I got this book from netgalley. I gave it 4 stars. Follow us at: www.1rad-readerreviews.com

From America’s “master griller” (Esquire), a step-by-step guide to cold-smoking, hot-smoking, and smoke-roasting, and a collection of 100 innovative recipes for smoking every kind of food, from starters to desserts.

Smoke is the soul of barbecue, the alchemy that happens when burning wood infuses its magical flavors into food. Project Smoketells you how to make the alchemy happen, with Raichlen’s seven steps to smoking nirvana; an in-depth description of the various smokers; the essential brines, rubs, marinades, and barbecue sauces; and a complete guide to fuel, including how each type of wood subtly seasons a dish. Then the recipes for 100 enticing, succulent, boldly-flavored smoked dishes, including Bacon-Crab Poppers, Cherry-Glazed Baby Back Ribs, Slam-Dunk Brisket, Jamaican Jerk Chicken—even Smoked Chocolate Bread Pudding.

Illustrated throughout with full-color photographs, it’s a book that inspires hunger at every glance, and satisfies with every recipe tried.HUBBY'S REVIEW:This was a good cook book, going over different types of smokers, wood, or charcoal, and then temperatures to cook the different types of meat for the smoke flavor. He also goes over what happens when it is to hot and how it destroys the flavor. He has a guide for each meat group on the temps that you are looking for to know when the food is done. He also gives you recipes on many different items you can make using the smoker. Some I would not have thought of like making bread, or dessert. The pictures are excellent and he gives easy to follow directions on the recipes he gives in the book. I also thought on all the different types of smokers was very useful. Overall a good book. I got this book from netgalley. I gave it 5 stars. Follow us at www.1rad-readerreviews.com

An accessible survey on a genius artist, published to accompany the 500th anniversary of Bosch's death

Hieronymus Bosch (c. 1450–1516) lived and worked in 's-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands, where he created enigmatic paintings and drawings full of bizarre creatures, phantasmagoric monsters, and terrifying nightmares. He also depicted detailed landscapes and found inspiration in fundamental moral concepts: seduction, sin, and judgment. This beautiful book accompanies a major exhibition on Bosch's work in his native city, and will feature important new research on his 25 known paintings and 20 drawings. The book, divided into six sections, covers the entirety of the artist's career. It discusses in detail Bosch's Pilgrimage of Life, Bosch and the Life of Christ, his role as a draughtsman, his depictions of saints, and his visualization of Judgment Day and the hereafter, among other topics, and is handsomely illustrated by new photography undertaken by the Bosch Research and Conservation Project Team.HUBBY'S REVIEW:

I was given this book from Netgalley, and growing up in a home with an artist and art history major my mother took me and my sister’s to more museum’s than I can remember, but I will say I saw some famous works of art. This book about Bosch is not about the charter that has been made famous in the Michael Connelly detective series, just a little humor. Anyway this book goes with an opening of his museum of works in Hertogenbosch where he lived and worked. The restoration process of his works that have been found and this book talks about his life as well as describing as best they can when some of the works were done. Weather someone commissioned him for a piece of work like a church that was nearby or if it was work he did himself. The works of art are amazing and I do realize not everyone is going to like each one but that is okay. Just to see these in a book is good because most of us are not going to make it to Europe to visit his museum. What I did find unique was the sketches that were found and shown in the book. His drawings were something I had never seen before and you can really get a feel for a true master by those. They were really something to look at and take in and like his paintings they was different meaning in those you could not just take one look at those. This was a really good book. I got this book from netgalley. I gave it 5 stars. Follow us at www.1rad-readerreviews.com

Born during the de facto inaugural era of jazz, saxophonist Benny Golson learned his instrument and the vocabulary of jazz alongside John Coltrane while Golson was still in high school in Philadelphia. Quickly establishing himself as an iconic fixture on the jazz landscape, Golson performed with dozens of jazz greats, from Sonny Rollins, Coleman Hawkins, and Jimmy Heath to Dizzy Gillespie, Freddie Hubbard, and many others. An acclaimed composer, Golson also wrote music for Hollywood films and television and composed such memorable jazz standards as “Stablemates,” “Killer Joe,” and “Whisper Not.”

An eloquent account of Golson’s exceptional life—presented episodically rather than chronologically—Whisper Not includes a dazzling collection of anecdotes, memories, experiences, and photographs that recount the successes, the inevitable failures, and the rewards of a life eternally dedicated to jazz.HUBBY'S REVIEW:An excellent book memoir about a jazz musician, and composer. He begins his book with his memoires of John Coltrane, upon hearing of his death and how he was 16, and Coltrane was 17 he would come over to his house to practice and how his mother would ask John to play the same song every day as she would be cleaning the house. What a memory, but that is just one. He goes on to how the two of them would sneak into a club to listen to Dizzy Gillespie, and Charlie Parker, “the Bird”. They were even able to speak to them at the end for just a bit. This book is really a who’s, who’s, in the jazz music. Benny Golson, played with in a band or meet. He was in Art Blakey’s messengers band which is a very good band, he also played in Billy Eckstine’s band, who if you have never heard him sing I would say to try to find some of his music, he was fabulous. He also speaks of his time with Art Farmer, Clifford Brown, and many others. All of them excellent musicians and he played behind many singers as well. In the 70’s he got into doing music for T.V. he speaks of the difficulties it was to break into that field along with doing movie scores. Overall a very moving book about a very good jazz musician In his own right but he does not blow his sax in telling you. Also if you never heard of any of these men look up there music it is wonderful. Have many of them so this was a good book for me. I got this book from netgalley. i gave it 4 stars. Follow us at www.1rad-readerreviews.com

In the remote Rocky Mountains, lives depend on the Search & Rescue brotherhood. But in a place this far off the map, trust is hard to come by and secrets can be murder...

As the captain of Field County's ice rescue dive team, Callum Cook is driven to perfection. But when he meets new diver Louise "Lou" Sparks, all that hard-won order is obliterated in an instant. Lou is a hurricane. A walking disaster. And with her, he's never felt more alive...even if keeping her safe may just kill him.

Lou's new to the Rockies, intent on escaping her controlling ex, and she's determined to make it on her own terms...no matter how tempting Callum may be. But when a routine training exercise unearths a body, Lou and Callum find themselves thrust into a deadly game of cat and mouse with a killer who will stop at nothing to silence Lou-and prove that not even her new Search and Rescue family can keep her safe forever.HUBBY'S REVIEW:Lou Sparks short for Louise, has moved to the Rocky Mountains from Connecticut to get away from her mother, step farther and mostly the man they picked for her to marry. She has decided to join the rescue dive team, but did not realize that it would be as cold as it is and she still misses scuba diving in the Caribbean. Once she gets her mind back on training and begins with that days practice as she is placing a belt around the person in the water her leg licks something and when they finally pull it up it is a body. This begins a two part story. One trying to find out who the person is, and second someone is trying to kill Lou. Then it turns out they are after Callum who is in charge of the dive team. They are after him because he begins to spend more time with her once they figure out someone is stalking her. This leads them to both have feelings for each other but neither one wants to make the first step. This is a suspenseful story with some moments of laughter. The characters are all good and overall it is a very good book. I got this book from netgalley. I gave it 4 stars. Follow us atwww.1rad-readerreviews.com

In the remote Rocky Mountains, lives depend on the Search & Rescue brotherhood. But in a place this far off the map, trust is hard to come by and secrets can be murder...

Ice rescue diver Derek Warner never meant to be a hero. But when two little girls go missing, he's the first in line to bring them home-even if that means scouring the wilderness with the woman he once loved and lost, Artemis Rey.

Artemis has never stopped wanting Derek. Now, racing to find the girls before it's too late, minutes turn to hours. Night falls. Old flames rekindle. And a danger grows in the darkest wilderness that may be more than even the Search and Rescue brotherhood can hope to face...HUBBY'S REVIEW:This is a quick read about a rescue dive team in Colorado. The team is at a lake putting on a demonstration for students of an elementary school when Derick one of the dive team members is trying to remember why he and a teacher named Artemis Rey broke up. She is wondering the same thing. When they start to talk another teacher notices two little girls have gone missing and now they must be found before nightfall and the next snowstorm. Derick and Artemis are teamed together and they not only work to find the girls but work on themselves as well because they get caught in the storm at night and must work together in order to survive. A good short story with plenty of mystery and suspense. I got this book from netgalley. I gave it 4 stars. Follow us at www.1rad-readerreviews.com

Yoga instructor Marlena Brodie is always up for a challenge, and her new job of snapping Bomb Squad out of their rut is definitely that, even though it means being in close contact with Liam McAllister, her high school crush gone bad. She can feel the damage pouring off of him—but also a wild and sexy strength that calls to her.

The Army turned Liam McAllister into a man, but as a combat medic, he saw far too much to ever be whole again. He’s not interested in the civilian world beyond his job as a carpenter, but he never stopped wondering what might have been with Marlena—and it isn’t long before she’s crashed through his carefully constructed walls. He longs for a new beginning with her, but to be the man she deserves, he’ll have to step out of his defensive zone and score the most important play of his life…

Marlena Brodie and Liam McAllister have known each other for most of their lives. She is his sister’s best friend and also the one girl in high school he wanted to be with but teased and embarrassed instead. Now ten years have gone by and though he has been home from the Army for two years his sister Olivia says he is broken. He has surprised her by being the winning bid of her gift of four massages, he bid higher than anyone probably too much, but the money was going to the wounded warriors for the area so it was worth it for him. She is now a yoga instructor and does massages. When he arrives he plan is to get back at Liam for the years past at the way he had treated her. His plan is to apologize for he has been in love with her since he was 13. This night does not go well and his PTSD comes up, but at the same time he realizes that she has gone through some kind of trauma as well. When he leaves and is walking across the street Marlena sees a broken man and one who needs help even though he keeps pushing everyone away. She decides to go to him in the next few days and see what she can do when he shows up at her apartment and instead of telling him to leave she invites him in. from that night forward not only did she invite him into her life but he is also slowly shedding himself to her. By letting her into his life though he does not know it they are becoming a couple, not what he wants, but he does not want to be without her either. Slowly he helps her with her trauma, and he begins to allow her to see some of his therapy to help overcome his. Being a combat medic for ten years was tough on him but it was the last patrol he was on that really sent him down this hole he has been in for a long time. There is also a hockey which is veterans who play against other teams from the area, you get a sense of what it is like for each one and their wounds to be on the ice and still be part of a team. The characters are very strong and there are a few tough scenes. Overall this is a fantastic book. I got this book from netgalley. I gave it 5 stars. Follow us at www.1rad-readerreviews.com

"The Traditional History and Characteristic Sketches of the Ojibway Nation" (1850) was one of the first books of Indigenous history written by an Indigenous author. The book blends nature writing and narrative to describe the language, religious beliefs, stories, land, work, and play of the Ojibway people. Shelley Hulan's afterword considers Copway's rhetorical strategies in framing a narrative-she considers it a form of "history, interrupted"-for a non-Indigenous readership.HUBBY'S REVIEW:This book was interesting it was first published in 1850 and is really a history of his people and stories to be shared and passed down. A good way for their stories which also is part of their life to be saved to record. Was a little difficult to understand in some parts, but I just reread them. I found this to be an interesting book. He also looked at the good and bad of government plans for the Indians, not just for his Tribe but for all because sometimes Native Americans were all put together regardless of Tribe. he also goes over his thoughts of being forced to learn what they called"White man ways", language, schooling, etc.. I got this book from netgalley. I gave it 4 stars. Follow us at www.1rad-readerreviews.com

Ever since she was a teenager, Grace Parnell has had one ambition: to prove her father’s innocence and overturn his prison sentence. That drive led her to become a tough, compassionate lawyer—until the case hits a heartbreaking end. Now Grace is adrift, with no idea how to rebuild her life. It’s certainly not the time to fall in love. But from the moment she meets Artemis Tanner, their instant connection is undeniable.A motor-sports pioneer, Tanner has come to this little coastal town for the racetrack—but he’s staying for Grace. Even though the standoffish attorney seems determined to stay out of reach, Tanner doesn’t need a law degree to tell that their attraction is very, very mutual. As her visits to the track become more frequent, and as Tanner learns more about Grace’s troubled family, he starts to pry open the tiny cracks in her controlled demeanor. Hidden beneath, there’s an incredible passion waiting to be set free.HUBBY'S REVIEW:This is the third book in this series, and some of the same characters from the last book are in this one as well. The story though is mostly focuses on Grace Parnell an attorney who has worked for a client for her whole life thinking that he was innocent of his crime only to find out on her last visit that he tells her he is guilty and stop with all of the appeals. This information sends her for a loop professionally, and personally. She has always felt as a criminal defense attorney that she could read her client now she is doubting everything about herself. Enter Artemis Tanner a pro driver who goes and talks to her at the bar and she finds him attractive and engaging in the conversation, but she is scared. They meet a few more times and the more she is around Tanner the more she is scared of her emotions, and comes up with different excuses for them not to be together. He on the other hand is not only attracted to her looks, but to her strong personality, and is working on ways to break down her walls. This is a very good story with a lot of emotion and a strong female lead character. Read the book and find out if Tanner can win her over. I got this book from netgalley. I gave it 5 stars. Follow us at www.1rad-readerreviews.com

Dr. Michelle Sapphire and Gunnery Sergeant Wyatt Callahan formed an unbreakable bond and an unacknowledged, forbidden attraction to each other while serving together in Afghanistan. Their lives are forever changed when a mortar attack grievously wounds Wyatt and Michelle brings him back from the brink of death. But when they both return to the civilian world, Michelle discovers that her rock-solid Marine is suffering from severe PTSD and may even be suicidal.

Wyatt Callahan fell hard for the aristocratic blonde doctor the moment he laid eyes on her. After reentering civilian life in his hometown near Austin, Texas, Wyatt is plagued by nightmares of the death and suffering he witnessed during the war. He’d love to reach out to Michelle, but — Michelle is a Dominatrix, and she has made it very clear to Wyatt she isn’t interested in a relationship with anyone who doesn’t accept her lifestyle. An Alpha male to the core, he can't imagine the appeal of being submissive. At the same time, the idea of serving Michelle, of being everything she wants and needs, rings true in his wounded soul.

Michelle has dark secrets of her own, and together with Wyatt she will have to battle her personal demons during their emotional journey of healing, redemption, and love.HUBBY'S REVIEW:This is a very intense story and from the start I am going to say there a mature sex scenes in this story. It begins with Gunnery SGT. Wyatt Callahan dealing with a severe case of PTSD. He also cannot get the doctor that they were protecting out of his mind. She is beautiful and he is wondering where she is. He cannot sleep and is drinking way too much, so in the middle of the night she receives a phone call from a sheriff about Wyatt and he had her card with her number on it and she told him it had to be an emergency to call her. He was making that call. Actually it was he brother in law the sheriff who was calling, but when she saw him it was not the Marine she came to know and actually rely on. Dr. Michelle Sapphire as they start to talk he is asking for help and as much as she wants to say yes, she is wanting to say no. you get a look at their relationship from the first time they met in Afghanistan and how they came to rely on one another, and how he was there for her just to cry when they were back at camp. They began to share stories and a bond formed, but she did not or could not take it anywhere then the attack and her fighting to keep him alive until help came. Now he is with her again but she wants him to leave, but he won’t. He wants her help but he also wants her. The problem she is a Dominatrix, and as he is wrapping his head around that she is explaining to him that any man that is with her has to be her submissive. He does have a problem at first but there is another couple living on her ranch and the man explains more to him. Also he begins to sleep at night and enjoys her company. This is not done in a way to be mean and as you go along in the story she is dealing with her own loss, but not dealing with it. He is starting to figure this out and begins to think that he can help her as much as she can help him. This is a very moving story a lot of emotion and it ends leaving you with another part of their story for the next book. That is my only problem is continuation books. Other than that a good book with good characters. I got this book from netgalley. I gave it 4 stars. Follow us at www.1rad-readerreviews.com

His brilliance unnerved even Thomas Jefferson, and two centuries after his death in a duel, Alexander Hamilton—the handsome founding father who served as an aide to General George Washington, steered the creation of the U.S. Constitution and helmed the new Treasury Department—is as fascinating as ever. This special edition of TIME profiles the founder who has even inspired a Broadway musical. Highlights include:The improbable life of the illegitimate son of a Caribbean merchant The Hamilton-Jefferson rivalry and its legacy today What provoked Hamilton’s fatal duel with Aaron Burr The lasting influence of Hamilton on the American and world economies.HUBBY'S REVIEW:A good point for anyone wanting to get a glimpse into the life of Hamilton. I am reviewing this late so if you can still find a copy it is worth the reading. A good look into a forgotten founding father and his verbal combats between Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, and of course Burr. Also a small look into his time in the war with Washington and then when Washington became President. This is by no means an in depth, for that I would recommend Ron Chernow’s. If you do be prepared for quite a book in information and in pages, but it is well worth the read. Overall this publication is good. I got this book from netgalley. I gave it 4 stars. Follow us at www.1rad-readerreviews.com

A modern and energetically designed encyclopedia of DIY with everything you need to know to roll up your sleeves and cook it, build it, sew it, clean it, or repair it yourself. In other words, everything you would have learned from your shop and home ec teachers, if you'd had them.

The Useful Book features 138 practical projects and how-tos, with step-by-step instructions and illustrations, relevant charts, sidebars, lists, and handy tool boxes. There’s a kitchen crash course, including the must-haves for a well-stocked pantry; how to boil an egg (and peel it frustration-free); how to grill, steam, sauté, and roast vegetables. There’s Sewing 101, plus how to fold a fitted sheet, tie a tie, mop a floor, make a bed, and set the table for a formal dinner.

Next up: a 21st-century shop class. The tools that everyone should have, and dozens of cool projects that teach fundamental techniques. Practice measuring, cutting, and nailing by building a birdhouse. Make a bookshelf or a riveted metal picture frame. Plus: do-it-yourself plumbing; car repair basics; and home maintenance, from priming and painting to refinishing wood floors.HUBBY'S REVIEW:This book is a most useful book in that in goes over what they used to teach when they had home economics, and shop. There are also guides to changing a tire, and some other minor car maintenance, and some basic electrical for your home. I will say in this day and age this would be a good book for a newly couple for it has a little of everything. Also like how to sew a button on a shirt, iron clothes, cooking and some small startup items to give you confidence in the kitchen. In this fast paced life not everyone was or is taught some of these what I call small items. It is more of an old school approach to life skills. I found most of the items talk about in the book were things my wife and I were raised with but that was because of the age of let say my parents, and grandparents. Both of our grandparents and my father had strong ties to the depression and as such these skills were taught. If you were at work you needed to know how to fix a button and most people card a small sewing kit with them, I did up until I retired. I remember at night my father darning his socks, that is sewing the hole in it instead of going out and buying a new pair of socks. Anyway you get the point this book would be could also for your children as well. Excellent book. Chapters are well defined and instructions are easy to follow. I got this book from netgalley. I gave it 5 stars. Follow us at www.1rad-readerreviews.com

Seventy years ago, more than six thousand Allied ships carried more than a million soldiers across the English Channel to a fifty-mile-wide strip of the Normandy coast in German-occupied France. It was the greatest sea-borne assault in human history. The code names given to the beaches where the ships landed the soldiers have become immortal: Gold, Juno, Sword, Utah, and especially Omaha, the scene of almost unimaginable human tragedy. The sea of crosses in the cemetery sitting today atop a bluff overlooking the beaches recalls to us its cost. Most accounts of this epic story begin with the landings on the morning of June 6, 1944. In fact, however, D-Day was the culmination of months and years of planning and intense debate. In the dark days after the evacuation of Dunkirk in the summer of 1940, British officials and, soon enough, their American counterparts, began to consider how, and, where, and especially when, they could re-enter the European Continent in force. The Americans, led by U.S. Army Chief of Staff General George C. Marshall, wanted to invade as soon as possible; the British, personified by their redoubtable prime minister, Winston Churchill, were convinced that a premature landing would be disastrous. The often-sharp negotiations between the English-speaking allies led them first to North Africa, then into Sicily, then Italy. Only in the spring of 1943, did the Combined Chiefs of Staff commit themselves to an invasion of northern France. The code name for this invasion was Overlord, but everything that came before, including the landings themselves and the supply system that made it possible for the invaders to stay there, was code-named Neptune. Craig L. Symonds now offers the complete story of this Olympian effort, involving transports, escorts, gunfire support ships, and landing craft of every possible size and function. The obstacles to success were many. In addition to divergent strategic views and cultural frictions, the Anglo-Americans had to overcome German U-boats, Russian impatience, fierce competition for insufficient shipping, training disasters, and a thousand other impediments, including logistical bottlenecks and disinformation schemes. Symonds includes vivid portraits of the key decision-makers, from Franklin Roosevelt and Churchill, to Marshall, Dwight Eisenhower, and Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay, who commanded the naval element of the invasion. Indeed, the critical role of the naval forces--British and American, Coast Guard and Navy--is central throughout. In the end, as Symonds shows in this gripping account of D-Day, success depended mostly on the men themselves: the junior officers and enlisted men who drove the landing craft, cleared the mines, seized the beaches and assailed the bluffs behind them, securing the foothold for the eventual campaign to Berlin, and the end of the most terrible war in human history.HUBBY'S REVIEW:This was a fantastic book about D-Day and the planning that went into it from the time of Dunkirk. How Britain had to talk the U.S. out of invading right when they entered the war, and how really everything from fighting in Africa, to landing in Sicily, and the 82nd parachuting into Italy (Anzio). All of these made for what needed to be prepared for still for the invasion. The author takes you through the political backdoor battles because Russia wanted a second front sooner than when it was going to happen, and how Stalin waited two weeks because of that before he started his counter attack against the Germans. He also shows you how much equipment that needed to be made ships, landing craft, ammo, planes, guns, gliders, fuel storage in England, and training personnel, men and women. This also goes into medical equipment. Anyway you get the point. If we had invaded right away it probably would have failed. The failures of Dunkirk actually helped with this invasion. The other also goes into how every branch of service was involved. The Coast Guard were the men operating the landing craft along with other crafts. This is a much entailed book about the invasion that change the course of the war. You must remember we were also fighting in the Pacific, and we were producing the most as a country and supply our allies, so we needed time which helped all around. Could go on, and on but read this book it is better than most books on the invasion. I got this book from netgalley. I gave it 5 stars. Follow us at www.1rad-readerreviews.com

The book "Jazzmen" (1939) claimed New Orleans as the birthplace of jazz and introduced the legend of Buddy Bolden as the First Man of Jazz. Much of the information that the book relied on came from a highly controversial source: Bunk Johnson. He claimed to have played with Bolden and that together they had pioneered jazz.

Johnson made many recordings talking about and playing the music of the Bolden era. These recordings have been treated with skepticism because of doubts about Johnson s credibility. Using oral histories, the "Jazzmen" interview notes, and unpublished archive material, this book confirms that Bunk Johnson did play with Bolden. This confirmation, in turn, has profound implications for Johnson s recorded legacy in describing the music of the early years of New Orleans jazz.

New Orleans jazz was different from ragtime in a number of ways. It was a music that was collectively improvised, and it carried a new tonality the tonality of the blues. How early jazz musicians improvised together and how the blues became a part of jazz has until now been a mystery. Part of the reason New Orleans jazz developed as it did is that all the prominent jazz pioneers, including Buddy Bolden, Bunk Johnson, Louis Armstrong, Sidney Bechet, Johnny Dodds, and Kid Ory, sang in barbershop (or barroom) quartets. This book describes in both historical and musical terms how the practices of quartet singing were converted to the instruments of a jazz band, and how this, in turn, produced collectively improvised, blues-inflected jazz, that unique sound of New Orleans."

HUBBY'S REVIEW:This book reminds me in a small way of a music appreciation class I took years ago in college where the instructor began the course with jazz and where the music came from the fields of the slaves. Through the fields to church and then onto New Orleans and into brothels. You would think there would not be a big calling for jazz music before records, but it was big. The author refers to a book written in 1939 about a jazz legend named Buddy Bolden, and was written by Buck Johnson. Johnson claimed in the book that he and Bolden were the “inventors” of jazz. The author uses newspaper articles, and other evidence as to prove or to try prove this. He also goes over different instruments from the time period, other type of music, barber shop quartet, and the difference of jazz and ragtime. He does mention King Oliver a little who for the longest time was one of the first and most popular Jazz person. He also mentions Louis Armstrong, but does not go into depth into either one of their histories. I enjoyed this book but I must say that while I may like the information I could see it really feel more like a something for college or school. Most people I feel will not be interested in the information, but I do know that the author must have spent years on accumulating all of the information in this book. Well researched and I found it to be interesting. I got this book from netgalley. I gave it 4 stars. Follow us at www.1rad-readerreviews.com

There’s a gang war unfolding on the streets of Seattle. A young boy has been killed in a drive-by shooting, and the ensuing chaos threatens to engulf the city. Normally, chief of detectives Mort Grant would be dealing with the fallout—but right now, his mind is elsewhere. . . .

In one gut-wrenching phone call, Mort’s worst fears are realized. His granddaughter Hadley has been kidnapped, and the culprit is his own flesh and blood: Allie, his daughter and Hadley’s aunt. Now, desperate for any sign of the missing six-year-old girl, Mort turns once again to the relentless vigilante called The Fixer for help.

After rising to the top of one of the largest criminal enterprises in the world, Allie Grant has turned her focus back on her family. But since they’ve rebuffed all her attempts at contact, she’s punishing them the only way she knows how. With an endless stream of cash and connections that span the globe, Allie makes a formidable target. But The Fixer boasts the deadliest weapon of all: her razor-sharp mind.HUBBY'S REVIEW:This is the 6th book in the series and it begins with one of Mort’s granddaughter’s being kidnapped by her Aunt who if are not reading the series is a crime lord. The fixer who is still recovering from her fight for the last book is looking for her. You also have a murder in downtown Seattle which looks to be gang related, but Mort is upset because the gang unit, and the citizens from the neighborhood don’t appear to be looking for the killer, and when a gang war starts the gang unit’s leader still does nothing. The author here makes a good point when Linc the gang unit supervisor, and Mort have a sit down. About different opinions on how the investigation should be handled, but Linc makes some very good points, along with the women who runs the community center. This is just one part of the story Allie Mort’s daughter and criminal czar is trying to hold her men together, while still trying to take the fixer. Sending men after her, but they are not coming back. I must say the fight scenes between her and two men in the woods was intense but good reading. The author takes you back and forth between the characters of gang members, police, Allie in Russia and Yemen, and in the life of the fixer and how she is trying to move on but not being allowed. Cannot tell you much more or I will be giving away the story and the ending. this is a must read if you have read the other Fixer books, if you have not find them and catch up to an acting and at suspenseful story with very good characters. A wonderful book. I got this book from netgalley. I gave it 4 stars. Follow us at www.1rad-readerreviews.com

EVERY GAME HAS RULES. HE'S ABOUT TO BREAK THEM . . .Since becoming a major league baseball player, I've learned a few hard lessons. Like never give out your home address on social media (sorry, Mom). Never shoot your mouth off without thinking . . . and never, ever let your personal life interfere with your game. But then I saw her - sitting alone behind the enemy dugout, watching me - and I just had to meet this girl.

Now I know that Daisy Robinson has her secrets, but there's something about her that drives me crazy. Maybe it's her innocence, her absolutely amazing knowledge of baseball, or just the fact that she is so unbelievably beautiful. I have to take it slow. Prove to her that the rumors about me are just that - rumors.

This is a story about a third baseman playing for an fictional team. His name is Ethan Davenport, he becomes taken by a fan who is always at the games. Her name is Daisy Robinson, she is going to college studying journalism and sits behind the visitors’ dugout. Ethan wants to meet her and afterwards he wants to start dating her. She wants to takes things slower. You find out as the story goes along why. Ethan on the other hand is wanting to be with her but is also obsessed with a blog that is written about the team and cannot believe people read these things, but throughout the story he is reading it as well. He complains about being in a blog or press and for me he seemed like he was complaining about things that were making popular. He reminded me of some of the athletes that read those things and feel like they have to respond, but here was a case where the blogger was writing good things about him, and he was upset about the rumors that were already out there any way. He should have been trying to spend more time getting to know her instead of getting upset with her when she was on the page. An okay story and I will let you find out if he can get out of his own way to make it work with Daisy. I got this book from netgalley. I gave it 3 stars. Follow us atwww.1rad-readerreviews.com

Ten years ago, I turned a hard decision into a simple one. I allowed others to decide my future . . . then I lost the best thing that ever happened to me. I let go of the girl I loved in exchange for a life I was told I wanted.

Then one day I woke up with no recollection of my reality and instead I believed my life had turned out how I had once dared to imagine. Now everyone is waiting for me to remember the day I ruined my future as I struggle to recall a life without the person I so carelessly tossed away.

Somehow, I was gifted a second chance with the woman I love, and I’m going to fight like hell to keep her.

Jordan

Your brain has a funny way of convincing you what is real and what is not; even if your heart never lets you forget the truth. After Chase Adams broke my heart, my life moved forward, even though the light I once felt had extinguished. Then I received an unexpected phone call that changed everything.

Every day we make choices, but most of the time they don’t affect the rest of our lives. I wanted to love again. I wanted to trust the gift I was given, but every choice has consequences. Now I have to decide to let go of the past for the sake of my future. . . or risk living with regret.

Adult Contemporary Romance: Due to language and sexual content, this book is not intended for readers under the age of 18.HUBBY'S REVIEW:Chase and Jordan were dating in high school he being the starting quarterback, she being the girl that moved to the Florida town after her mother and father decided to live there to be closer to her grandparents. Her father retired from the Army so no more moving, and Chase was wanting to ask her out the first time he saw her. She of course said no, for weeks until he finally broke her down and after that first date they were together for the next two years. Now looking to graduate him going to Ohio State on a football scholarship, she is going to NYU, for business, but she is still expecting him to ask her to marry him. What happens next rocks her world and she is out of his life for ten years. He makes it to the pros and is a starting quarterback only to be sidelined by another concussion, his father forces him to sign a waiver and goes back to only to wake up weeks later in a hospital room wondering what is going on and why his wife is not there. That’s right he thinks he is married to Jordan for the last ten years. He needs to be sedated. His mother finally gets through to Jordan who now runs the family cosmetic business, and she is at the top of the game. A high powered female CEO. When she listens to the mother of the boy, who now is a man explain the situation she is actually thinking about going to Phoenix in order to help since her love life is not. She calls her best friend who was there for her when she arrived at NYU and helped her get over him and they have been BFF since. When she is on the plane. Arriving the first person she runs into is his a—hole of a father, but the mother runs him off. When they finally meet he knows there is something wrong between them but Chase thinks that like any husband he messed up and can fix it. What he doesn’t and doesn’t find out or remember is that they are not married. When he does he thinks everyone has been lying to him, but at the same time he breaks her heart once again. Now he must fix himself if he can have any chance or think he can have any chance with her. That is really when this story takes off. A lot of emotion, and you really hate his father. At the same time her best friend and his are two good characters as well as other characters in the book. A good story. I got this book from netgalley. I gave it 5 stars. Follow us at www.1rad-readerreviews.com

Jagger Caldwell is no one’s hero. With a reputation busting heads
and breaking hearts on the underground MMA circuit, he lives for easy cash and
easier women. But when he stumbles upon an all-too-familiar scene, painful
memories awaken Jagger’s sensitive side and compel him to act. As a kid, he
stood by helplessly as his old man beat his mom. Now, Jagger won’t let
seventeen-year-old Tatiana Rand suffer the same fate. Nothing matters except
saving her.

Tatiana is a prisoner in her own home, at the mercy of her violent father—until
an unlikely savior bursts through her door and into her life. Six-feet-plus of
tattooed muscle and raw power, Jagger is no prince charming—but Tatiana stopped
believing in fairy tales long ago. Despite their differences in age and, well,
everything else, the sexy bad boy sparks a fire that Tatiana never knew she
had—and desires that only Jagger can quench.

Coming soon (September 20th)

Next co authored release (Standalone character from Caldwell)

In a powerful, smoldering novel from the
bestselling authors of the Caldwell Brothers series (“Bad boy heroes to die
for!”—Tracy Wolff), two tortured souls team up to overcome the past, finding
the courage to heal . . . and to love.

Jason “Cobra” Stanley was born to fight. With a father like his, he had to
toughen up just to survive. Now Cobra tries to take out all of his frustration,
all of his anger, and all of his pain in the MMA cage. But after he receives
one too many hits to the head during a match with Jagger Caldwell, the cycle of
violence comes to a screeching halt. Cobra wakes up in the hospital, under the
care of a nurse whose blond hair shines like a halo—and whose pure heart
touches him on the deepest level.

Lorraine Bosch is a fighter too. Having escaped from her own controlling
father, she prides herself on remaining professional, despite the chaos of the
ER. But Cobra is the ultimate distraction. Lorraine knows she should run away
screaming from his rippling muscles and shattered psyche. And yet how can she
deny this broken man a second chance—especially since she knows exactly what
he’s been through? Lorraine’s used to playing guardian angel. Now it’s her turn
to find heaven in Cobra’s arms.

Translate

This is a Family Blog. We leave reviews on Goodreads, Facebook, Pinterest & Net Galley

Still figuring this out guys thanks for sticking it out with us. I am lucky to be able to read interesting books,write reviews,post on Net Galley, Amazon, Facebook & Goodreads. In my spare time I will now be blogging as well as being a Mom,Wife &running a small busniss. My daughter who is an advanced 12 yr. old will review YA books. My husband will review History, Sports & Mystery.

Search This Blog

Facebook

Blog Archive

Professional Reader

Each member starts with this badge, to acknowledge your contributions in helping books succeed.

Approved Badge Netgalley

Members who are auto-approved by four or more publishers receive this badge.

Reviewed over 500+

2016 NetGalley Challenge: I help books succeed!

Reviews Published

Members receive this badge when 3 or more of their reviews have been added to any NetGalley title details page by a publisher. (You can see which reviews have been added on your Shelf, under Feedback Sent.)